Parenthood
by yugifrozenfan
Summary: Sequel to And Baby Makes Three. Yuya & Zuzu are dealing with the glories of parenthood however, Yuya's misinterpretation of something she said regarding their child illustrates that just because a baby's in play doesn't make things all wine and roses. T for nursing mentions
**AN: I'm back again with another Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V story, meaning the last one wasn't techinally the last. This time this one will focus on just the trials of parenthood. Dub names apply. Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V is owned by Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems & 4K Media, Inc. I do own Regina Sakaki, however.**

To say the nights were long were an understatement, particularly if you're being awoken by a hungry baby almost every hour. Any sins Yuya & Zuzu committed as babies to torture their own parents, they were paying for it, heavily. The sleepless nights, the feedings at 1 or 2 in the morning, everything Yoko & Skip dealt with, they were dealing with it. Regina kept the two parents up almost constantly, the two of them rotating out, pending her needs. Which was hard to tell, was she hungry? Did she just want to be rocked? No freaking clue. "Rough night?" Skip inquired in the morning.

"Tell me about it", Yuya said, shiftling a yawn.

"Welcome to parenthood, kids", Skip said before turning on his heel. That had Yuya convinced of the above. So, that night, he bunked on the couch, leaving Zuzu to handle whatever baby problems came their way that night. Next morning, it was the exact opposite: Yuya was the refreshed one while Zuzu was a repeat of last night.

"Well, you seem refreshed", Zuzu remarked at breakfast.

"I slept on the couch. She keep you up?" Yuya asked.

"A lot. I had to pull double duty, considering that SOMEONE wasn't helping", she remarked. Yuya gulped and before she could lay into him, Regina's wails rang through the house.

"I'll get her", Yuya said and got up to go to the nursery to retrieve her, hoping this would prove his worth. However, proving your worth takes a lot more than just getting your kid up in the morning. The thing with Yuya was his insecurities with being a competent father which had started to fester when Zuzu told him she was pregnant with Regina. His own father had disappeared three years ago and STILL hasn't been located, leaving him with the thought that the same thing happening to him at some point. He came back with the baby and handed her off to Zuzu so she could get her daily morning milk. She had been nursing twice a day and she had to admit, when it came to feeding, the baby had inherited Yuya's gluttony. Big time.

"I'm telling you, Yuya, she seemed to have inherited more from you than me", Zuzu sheeplishly admitted. Yuya just shrugged and said nothing about it. True, the baby had more traits from Yuya than Zuzu, like his gluttony and overall energetic nature but there was something more about Regina that reminded him of him, too much so in fact that by the time Zuzu turned around, he was gone. The sound of the closing door told her exactly where he was going.

Yuya walked at a breakneck speed to get to his own house. When he made it, he knocked on the door and Yoko answered it. "Yuya, what a pleasant surprise!" she said. Yuya came in but didn't say hello back. "What's the matter?" she inquired, dropping her welcoming nature.

"I just need some time to myself", he said.

"Oh, okay", Yuya nodded and launched one foot up the stairs to his room when he heard his mother ask, "Do you wanna talk about it?" Yuya stopped and realized that was the case. He just needed someone to talk about his problems with.

"Sure", he removed his foot from the stairstep and made his way to the couch and sat down. "Each time I look at her, I see a little bit more of me in her, almost too much. And this morning, Zuzu makes this remark about her inheriting some of my traits", Yuya said. Yoko listened and instantly pinpointed his problem.

"Are you afraid Regina would be raised without you at a certain point?" she asked. Yuya knew there was no denying it.

"Yes", he answered. Yoko nodded and Yuya's own fears were indeed justifiable because of that possibility that whatever happened to his father could indeed happen to him at one point, which, hopefully, it doesn't. Yuya shifted on the couch a little bit when a knock was heard. Yoko got up to answer it and the way she sounded made him aware it was Zuzu, who was looking for him.

"He's in here. Yuya?" Yoko said, escorting Zuzu and Regina into the living room of the Sakaki house. Zuzu immediately handed Regina off to Yoko, who escorted her off to give the parents some alone time before she proceeded to pin Yuya to the couch.

"YUYA! Do you realize how worried I was when you left?! No call, no note! You had me running around town trying to find you!" she said in half-anger, half-worry which, of course, she was justified in, given the fact he DID just up and leave the house with no indictation where he was going.

"I had some of my own issues to deal with", he said.

"Like what?"

"What you said this morning got me to thinking, what if I was abducted like my father was three years ago?"

"Yuya, if anyone would want to abduct you, they'd have to go through me first in order to do so", Zuzu said. That calmed Yuya a little bit but what he was told by her was still ringing in his ears but eventually decided it was a good thing that Regina inherited a lot of his traits after all or that she wouldn't have to go through almost her life without her father after three years pass. "Besides", Zuzu asked. "Why didn't you just tell me that's what was worrying you?"

"Well, aside from the obvious, I didn't want to trouble you with my problems", he admitted. Zuzu sighed.

"Yuya, if we're going to make this work, even with a baby, you have to learn to be more emotionally open", she flat-out admitted. Yuya sighed and agreed. By the time he ironed out his issues, he was ready to return home. Collecting Regina from his mother, the family walked home, their bond now a little bit stronger.

 **AN: That's It! That's It! Now, the title actually holds a second meaning: it also refers to Yuya's fear that Regina would ultimately follow his arc when the main plot of the show begins when he misinterpreted Zuzu's remark about Regina 'inheriting more of his traits'. Also, Yuya being emotionally closed off is actually in character for him as I try to keep the characters in my stories (not just for this fanon but my stories in general) closer to their canon selves rather than twist them around. R &R!**


End file.
